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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
5:1-6:20 A Report of Sexual Immorality and Legal Wrangling. Paul has heard not only of disunity in the Corinthian church but also of a bizarre case of sexual misconduct (5:1-13), of believers taking other believers before pagan courts (6:1-11), and of sexual immorality with prostitutes (6:12-20). In answer to these problems, Paul instructs the Corinthians on the meaning of Christian holiness and the significance of the final day.
5:1-13 Incest, Arrogance, and the Need for Discipline. Paul first tells the Corinthians that God has set certain boundaries to mark out his people as his own. The Corinthians need to maintain these boundaries by disciplining a man in their church involved in incest.
5:1 has his father's wife. Not his biological mother but his stepmother; otherwise Paul would have explicitly said so. Leviticus 18:8 specifically forbids sexual relations between a man and his "father's wife." God's people are to be distinguished from surrounding nations by following God's law rather than the customs of those nations (Lev. 18:1-5). Ironically, the Corinthian Christians were more tolerant of flagrant sin than were the pagans among whom they lived.
5:2 arrogant. See v. 6. The arrogance may arise from the Corinthians' mistaken "knowledge" that they are somehow free of normal moral constraints (6:12; 8:1; 10:23). If so, they may have thought of this freedom as an implication of grace (Rom. 3:8; 6:1, 15; Jude 4). It is also possible that Paul simply thinks of their characteristic arrogance (1 Cor. 3:21; 4:6, 8, 18-19) as doubly inappropriate in light of the shocking sin in their midst.
5:3-4 my spirit is present. A difficult phrase that probably means that the disciplinary power of the Holy Spirit, which Paul knew to be present in his own ministry (see note on 4:19), would also be manifested in their meeting, because of the Corinthian church's connection with Paul.
5:5 Deliver this man to Satan probably refers to removing him from the church, since those outside of the church are in Satan's realm (Luke 4:5-6; Eph. 2:2; 1 John 5:19). destruction of the flesh. Although it is certainly not always the case (cf. John 9:1-3), personal sin sometimes has grave physical consequences (Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 11:29-30). spirit may be saved. The purpose of the discipline was not to punish the man for punishment's sake but to effect his restoration to the church and eventual salvation (see 1 Tim. 1:20).
5:6-7 leaven. Not yeast (which was uncommon in the ancient world) but fermented dough, a little of which would be left from the previous week to be added to a new lump of dough. By analogy, when publicly known sin in the church is not subjected to church discipline, it will silently spread its destructive consequences throughout the whole fellowship.
5:9 my letter. An otherwise unknown letter to the Corinthians, written prior to 1 Corinthians.
5:11 not to associate. See 2 Thess. 3:6, 14. One purpose here, as in 2 Thessalonians, is redemptive with respect to the person committing the sin (1 Cor. 5:5; 2 Thess. 3:14-15). But another purpose is to avoid giving the appearance of approving sinful conduct, lest reproach be brought on the church and the gospel.
5:13 "Purge . . . from among you." As the newly constituted people of God (10:32), the Corinthians are to follow God's instructions to Israel for preserving its holiness when flagrant, unrepented-of sin is in its midst (Deut. 13:5; 17:7, 12; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21-22, 24; 24:7). In this case, they are to do so by excommunicating the man committing incest.
